Wheee!

So today the Quinn family got out early to harvest their potato yield. If you remember we have been testing out growing potatoes in the Smart Pots all summer. Apart from great soil preparation and haphazard watering (over the balcony) we have done precious little to these potatoes.

We grew the German Butterball and some rogue russet from Wild Oats that was going to seed in the fridge.  That was a last minute decision and not a bad one

So here is the potato gardening in a summary fashion (you know like “sum it all up”).

• We grew our potatoes from seeds from Seed Savers
• in Smart Pots
• using this method
• My husband laid the pots on a flat piece of wood that was sitting on top of some 2×4’s over the dirt (good decision)
• We picked a few new potatoes when the flowers died off
• We found some of those green seed pods and made the decision to get rid of those too.
• The foilage started to die back about 2-3 weeks ago (recommended time) and based on work schedules, school starting and the season we made the decision to harvest today.
• There were big VERY VERY ugly slugs and LOTS of spiders under the wood but we had not seen them all summer… well the spiders yes but they are always here.
• We planted 2.5 lbs of the German Butterball. They are estimated to yield between 2 to 3 times their planted amount. We are estimating we yielded about 10 to 13 pounds.
• Our rogue potato, of which I have long forgotten how many I planted, yielded some nice sized tuber and probably about to 10 lbs.
• It is rewarding to see the fruit of your labors even if it is not gargantuan amounts. We are sharing with family and hopefully next year we’ll have some for friends
• I will be planting these again next year. This time using all of our pots for the German Butterball (you just rinse them out and keep them in the garage…after removing the spiders of course). I’m going to try and save a few of ours for seed but order again from Seed Savers. The only thing I might change is how many go in each pot. I have to do some research. Everything else worked well and it was a great learning experience and activity for our daughter.

Whew! The gardening advice never ends!

We have some very flucuating weather as of late and as a result I’ve had some misses with a few tomatoes. I allowed a couple to ripen on the vine and unfortunately this happened during a heat spell which has left them mushy. Ick! Nothing worse than a mushy tomato.

So here I’m linking you up to some good tomato picking tips

• Hyde Park Garden Fair Vegetable picking tips (scroll to the bottom for tomatoes)
• Tomato Casual. None of these were the reason for my tomatoes being mushy but just in case this might happen to you…

I’m getting sick of gardening. That being said I planted some chives and cabbage last week. Sigh! So maybe not that sick of it. It’s frustrating, aggravating and rewarding. The first vegetable ready to be picked makes you so giddy!

UPDATE: The tomatoes are taking FOREVER to turn red. We pulled a few in the house and let them ripen there. Black from Tulas. Very good. There are a few turning red on the vine. The Black from Tula and Amish Paste. The Golden’s are not doing so hot. The plants look horrible (I’ve been ruined by lovely gardening magazines) but they are still putting forth fruit.

Lately we’re going from temps in the 100’s to the 70’s. My garden is not happy. We’ve harvested a few cumbers too. Boothby’s Blonde. The corn is almost ready. It’s always swarming with wasps so I’m afraid to touch it. Some gardener I am.I’m not sure what is happening there.

We should be harvesting potatoes next week. My husband has been watering for me in the cool mornings. Kiss, kiss!

Anyway as we get ready to start up another school year it has come to my attention that the home arena is falling into major disorganization. I’ve been spending some time each day organizing various areas in the home.

1. Laundry
2. Filing
3. Home office in general
4. Meals

Today I’ll talk about the meals. Family dinner in particular.  My husband has been alternating his days off so he is home some days during the week. This means he really gets into the cooking and it throws my whole meal plan off. Besides after he cooks there are usually a few leftovers so cooking the next few nights is not really necessary.

Well this week things seem to have shifted a bit and I’d better get a handle on the evening meals or we’ll be eating cold cereal.

As far as pantry staples are I usually have those all together bit it’s the fresh stuff I’ve been lacking on.

My plan was to eat from the garden and we have a bit but we need teeny bit more variety.

So my husband took care of dinner last night but this morning I grabbed my Saving Dinner book and headed to the grocery store.

I’m starting with a summer menu and only using three of the five menus for the week.

We’ll have…

• Fish Romano
• Lemon Skillet Chicken with Rosemary and
• Warm Spinach Salad

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned in the past how much I like the Saving Dinner cookbook. Of all the menu plans, cookbooks etc this is the most used in our household.  I have two bookshelves full of cookbooks, a computer database and an online system I use but the Saving Dinner one is the best.

When I first purchased Saving Dinner my husband and I rated each recipe so we could know where we would want to adjust or even swap out if need be. We’ve only nixed about 3 in the whole book of 4 seasons worth of recipes.

As much as I like menu planning I can get lazy about it and having a cookbook handy without having to go the computer is great. There are four seasonal menus, 8 weeks worth of menus per season, your grocery lists and cooking tips.

AND! Leanne is revamping the book. You can preorder Amazon or Barnes and Nobles and the new version will have 4 weeks worth of freezer meals. You can also get an ebook version at Barnes and Nobles….Thanks a lot Leanne! (said sarcastically since I already have my copy).

Oh I guess this is sounding like a review….okay.

Saving Dinner YES! I love this cookbook.

The recipes are not difficult but if you are a complete novice at cooking Leanne also has Saving Dinner Basics: How to Cook Even If You Don’t Know How

Oh woe is me. Naive am I. I thought that the blossom end rot was the worst of it.

I was out watering the tomatoes and giving them the once over when I notice a little pile of what appears to be bird poop on a leaf. Not really wanting to deal with it I sprayed the stuff with my Garlic Barrier when they started to move. All of them!

I most wanted to let out a blood curdling scream and run for the hills but after disposing of the mass I ran into the house and jumped on the computer.

Thank goodness my peanut was taking a nap at the time. She proclaims all bugs beautiful and would have wanted to save them or something.

They may be tomato hornworms or what have you. After various pictures and videos I began to get nauseous and called my husband to whine.

I found that most gardeners swear by Bt and more specifically Safer 5160 Caterpillar Killer with BT.

There was some business about corn and tomatoes being planted together (which I have) which like I said the nauseau was setting in so I just had to get the job done.

After a few trips this morning I found the stuff and my husband and I hosed down the plants this evening.

I do happen to have a home next to an open field that probably used to be farm land. I think the bugs go out at night with little headsets on and call in to each other on who’s garden to attack next. Did I tell you about the time I was out gardening and two mating bugs decided  my head was the place to land? They love me. They just love me. I’m itching just talking about it.

Mind you I keep talking about having a strong stomach and I thought I did. I was a pre-med student in college. Autopsy, open heart surgery, various experiments. I could discuss this stuff over dinner but these bugs? Aaaarggh!

I tell my husband that had we lived in pioneer days we would have starved to death.

Oh this is the video that sent me over the edge.

Okay I do have a gardening update. Not a happy one but in the meantime I’ve been doing some heavy duty organizing.

First I made the mistake of visiting the HSN (Home Shopping Network) website. I happened upon the Flip Fold thingy and was hooked.

Now you have to understand I don’t have a television so I’ve never really seen one of these shows.

I have a horrible time folding clothes. Usually my husband comes in and bails me out. He has that military background and can make some mean folds. But I really would rather use this energy to tackle my gardening woes. So after watching the infomercial (and doing a bit of web checking to make sure this was the model I wanted) I ordered.

I was so excited waiting for this thing it’s kind of scary. My husband didn’t agree that this would change my clothes folding life and thought it was a waste yada yada.

So fast forward a week and I have the Flip Fold reg. and junior and my whole house is undergoing a transformation!

I won’t say I love folding clothes but man I do love the results!

It’s a bit more than just being anally neat. It’s about having more room in the drawers and actually knowing what is there. With every day living things were getting a wee bit out of hand.

I re-organize about a drawer or a shelf a day along with the laundry and leave it at that.  I’ve finished the master bedroom dressers, and two shelves in the linen closet.

Meanwhile I decided that the sock drawers could use some help and I found this video.  By the way it does work and I like how they look. It took all of about 5 minutes to re-do my husbands socks.